RIVER SCENERY 



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the Laguinhos, which are connected with the river in the 

 wet season, but separated from it by a high bank of sand 

 topped with bushes at other times. There is a break 

 here in the fringe of wood, and a ghmpse is obtained of 

 the grassy campo. When the waters have risen to the 

 level of the pools this place is frequented by many kinds 

 of wading birds. Snow-white egrets of two species stand 

 about the margins of the water, and dusky-striped herons 

 may be seen half hidden under the shade of the bushes. 

 The pools are covered with a small kind of water-lily, and 

 surrounded by a dense thicket. Amongst the birds which 

 inhabit this spot is the rosy-breasted Troupial (Trupialis 

 Guianensis), a bird resembling our starling in size and 

 habits, and not unlike it in colour, with the exception 

 of the rich rosy vest. The water at this time of the year 

 overflows a large level tract of campo bordering the pools, 

 and the Troupials come to feed on the larvae of insects 

 which then abound in the moist soil. 



Beyond the Laguinhos there succeeds a tract of level 

 beach covered with trees which form a beautiful grove. 

 About the month of April, when the water rises to this 

 level, the trees are covered with blossom, and a hand- 

 some orchid, an Epidendron with large white flowers, 

 which clothes thickly the trunks, is profusely in bloom. 

 Several kinds of kingfisher resort to the place : four 

 species may be seen within a small space : the largest 

 as big as a crow, of a mottled-gray hue, and with an 

 enormous beak ; the smallest not larger than a sparrow. 

 The large one makes its nest in clay cliffs, three or four 

 miles distant from this place. None of the kingfishers 

 are so brilliant in colour as our English species. The 

 blossoms on the trees attract two or three species of 

 humming-birds, the most conspicuous of which is a large 

 swallow- tailed kind (Eupetomena macroura), with a 

 brilliant livery of emerald green and steel blue. I noticed 

 that it did not remain so long poised in the air before the 

 flowers as the other smaller species ; it perched more 

 frequently, and sometimes darted after small insects on 

 the wing. Emerging from the grove there is a long 

 stretch of sandy beach ; the land is high and rocky, 

 and the belt of wood which skirts the river banks is much 

 broader than it is elsewhere. At length, after rounding 

 a projecting bluff, the bay of Mapiri is reached. The 

 river view is characteristic of the Tapajos : the shores 



